Charleston,
W.Va. – West Virginia
Secretary of State Natalie E. Tennant said today that prudent planning
with her office’s budget will help pay for a ballot error in the 2012
primary election.
The error occurred on the Republican primary
ballot, instructing
voters to vote for no more than 18 for at-large delegate to the
Republican National Convention even though 19 were to be elected. The
error was detected in time to be corrected before the early voting
period began on April 25.
The cost of the reprinting of the ballots is
$148,705.20. More
operational costs incurred by the counties including overtime costs,
payment for ballot commissioners, and express mail for absentee ballots
to absentee military and overseas voters, may still be added. The
Secretary of State’s Office will reimburse counties for those costs as
well. The Secretary of State’s Office is also expecting a bill from
Elections Systems and Software (ES&S) for recoding and
reprogramming for about $64,000.
Secretary Tennant said Monday her office will
use reclassified
funds that were originally intended to be used to pay additional Other
Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) liabilities to pay for the reprinting
and reprogramming.
“The Secretary of State’s Office was one of a
few agencies in West
Virginia that budgeted to pay our OPEB obligations,” Secretary Tennant
said. “It was determined that transfer would not occur and those funds
were reclassified. We will use those funds to help pay for the
reprinting and reprogramming. We are now working closely with the
counties to make sure they let us know about their operational costs.”
Secretary Tennant also commended and thanked
county clerks, ballot
commissioners, ballot printers Casto and Harris, and programmers
ES&S for their hard work in administering a successful primary
election despite the voter instruction error.
Secretary Tennant said she has always looked
for ways to save money
in the Secretary of State’s Office, from developing IT projects
in-house rather than paying a contractor to utilizing less expensive
mailing options to contact tens of thousands of business owners around
the state. She also said since taking office in 2009 she has cut the
budget of the Secretary of State’s Office, which has the smallest
budget of any constitutional office, by ten percent.